Touch hole too high?

[Justin]

My drill press sucks and I'm not terribly experienced with it. I think I got my touch hole a little too high. How bad is it? I notice when my frizzen is closed, you can just barely see the hole.









Here you can see when the frizzen is closed.

[Mauser06]

I would shoot it before I worried much. I bet she goes off like a champ..

[Justin]

I would shoot it before I worried much. I bet she goes off like a champ..

I'll have to do that... Not sure what recourse I really have at this point.

[Justin Urbantas]

if you're not happy, you could get an 8x32 /10x32 bolt in there, drill a hole through it where you want, countersink from the back, and re-install it and cut it off and file flush.

[little joe]

I would shoot it and I,m sure ignition will be fine.Got one on the wall worse than that and it works fine. Justin all that you stated would work but how you going to reinstall, I,m lost.

[satwel]

That happened to me once. The drill bit wandered and the vent hole ended up a little high just like yours. It's probably the fastest igniting flintlock I own. I wouldn't worry about it. Now I start with a centering bit when I drill a vent.

[Old Ford2]

Hi,
It won't be water tight in a monsoon, but I'll bet a dime to a donut that your ignition will be great.
It you do try to cone the flash hole, try and cone only the bottom half.
It can be done with a small dremel burr. Be careful & don't let the dremel tool get away on you.
Fred

[Justin]

Thanks for the suggestions folks. I'll leave it be for now. If I find it troublesome when shooting, I'll worry about it then. I'm not exactly sure what happened... Bit wandered or I just didn't have it lined up right. Kind of a nerve wracking process drilling a hole in your perfectly fine barrel...

[n stephenson]

It will be fine. I`d rather have it there than, down in the pan anytime. JMHO   Nate

[Bob Roller]

The drill press is what it IS.Inexperienced operator is the problem.
A center drill is a must and are not expensive.
No doubt about the rapid ignition so all is not lost.

Bob Roller

[sleddman]

Justin,  leave it alone.  I have 1 rifle with a touch hole this high.  It is real fast ignition and shoots great.   I thought the same thing untill i shot it.  And in the rain no touch hole is water proof.   Use a cows knee to cover the lock in the rain.   Looks clean leave it alone,   mho.

[Metalshaper]

If it bothers you it Seems to me? If you can locate a good Tig welder man.. he cud weld you a small bead on to that upper edge of the frizzen...and if he's careful and steps taken to preserve the face hardness... Then after you dress it back and square to the barrel.. it's all good!!! No more visible hole, fast ignition and  no one but you ( and all if us ) would know..

Just thinking out loud??

Respect Always
Metalshaper\jonathan

[ltdann]

The drill press is what it IS.Inexperienced operator is the problem.
A center drill is a must and are not expensive.
No doubt about the rapid ignition so all is not lost.

Bob Roller

Bob,

I've not used centering drills before, what makes them better?  How does it work?

[Justin]

The drill press is what it IS.Inexperienced operator is the problem.
A center drill is a must and are not expensive.
No doubt about the rapid ignition so all is not lost.

Bob Roller

Yes, you're right. My drill press table is small and it's awkward to attach my drill press vise to it.

Are you talking about this?

[Daryl]

Yes - those are centre drills.  Your hole looks like it's in the centre to me, just that the barrel is a bit high in the stock. Ignition might be just fine.  I had one even higher with a definite ignition problem.  We repaired it by making a new liner with a lower hole, angled up to the central one, with appropriate chamfering on the inside. Worked a treat.

[Scota4570]

Drilling a hole in the right spot just takes a little planning.

-Spot the hole location with a center punch.  This must be done unless you are using a milling machine and center bit. 
-measure, double-triple check it is in the right place.
-Drill the hole, but way undersize.
-Check the location again, it is is a little off, center it up with a Dremil tool.  Drill bits follow existing holes.
-Drill it a little larger, check it again.  IF it is now perfect..
-Drill to the tap size. 

*Never drill a hole for a tap in one shot.  Drills love to wander.  They always drill a little oversized.  IF you make a pilot hole they will drill the correct size. 

That seem Like a lot of messing around.  It is.  Filling holes is worse.  When it matters, I always do the above.  Having a lock bolt off center in the tang drives me nuts. 

I do have a milling machine and would only consider it to be a stout drill press, I do not try to drill holes by the numbers on the cross feeds.  I do what I described above. 

[Pete G.]

If it REALLY bothers you, you could maybe lower the barrel in the stock just a little, but that would require refinishing etc. Otherwise just leave as is and wait for the next build.

[oldtravler61]

  Justin maybe it's my eyes. But how are you going to remove your touch hole liner without a slot in it. Maybe it's not necessary for what you have planned. But I always make a slot on the ones I install.
 Mainly for when I clean the guns. Jmt

[Justin]

  Justin maybe it's my eyes. But how are you going to remove your touch hole liner without a slot in it. Maybe it's not necessary for what you have planned. But I always make a slot on the ones I install.
 Mainly for when I clean the guns. Jmt

I don't plan to. This is a Jim Chambers "White Lightnin" liner. It comes with a lug on the outside that lets you put it in and then you hacksaw that off and file / sand it flush to the barrel.

I'd have to tap the hole to remove it which would be a permanent removal

[smylee grouch]

It will probably be just fine as is but if you should ever want to weather proof the lock/pan with some kind of pan sealer or grease you risk smearing the gook over the hole as you close the frizzen.

[Scota4570]

The liner looks like it is pretty well centered on the flat.  I would never,  not center a liner.  It seems more like the lock is low or the barrel is high.  Water under the bridge. 

Why not raise the pan cover?  Add a little piece of steel.  Maybe silver braze it on.    A good TIG welder could do that easily too.    Maaaaaaybe?? just forge it to be a hair higher over the vent?

Then shape and finish does not like and after thought.  You get a nice high vent that  is covered by the pan cover. 

[Justin]

The liner looks like it is pretty well centered on the flat.  I would never,  not center a liner.  It seems more like the lock is low or the barrel is high.  Water under the bridge. 

Why not raise the pan cover?  Add a little piece of steel.  Maybe silver braze it on.    A good TIG welder could do that easily too.    Maaaaaaybe?? just forge it to be a hair higher over the vent?

Then shape and finish does not like and after thought.  You get a nice high vent that  is covered by the pan cover.

I'd have to find a good TIG welder first

Know any in Madison, WI?

[Flint62Smoothie]

Now a good machinist would use a prick punch to locate the hole to be drilled, then a center punch to position or set that hole and then use a center-finder tool and drill with a center drill.

That said, I bought a used flinter with a touch hole too high, and went in with an end mill (on my Bridgeport) to lower the starting hole, then tap-drilled and tapped for a Chambers white
Lightening liner. Works flawlessly now! As this is a hunting arm and I too was concerned with fitment or location to the frizzen cover whilst closed.

[Scota4570]

I'd have to find a good TIG welder first   Know any in Madison, WI?

No clue.  I found a guy out here who did work for the tech companies in Silicon Valley.  He had amazing skills.    Maybe if you searched for somebody like that vs. a regular welder you might have luck. 

I might  make a little piece that dovetailed into the pan cover.  I might flat off the pan cover and lay a piece on top.  I'd have to stare at it a while to decide.  Either way I'd silver braze it with a map gas torch.   Jewelry supply places have real silver solder.  I'd shape it and then and finish in the white.  With a tight joint the silver solder will be near invisible. 

Honestly, I'd just shoot it. 

[Darkhorse]

Unless your hunting in the rain you will be OK. The fire from the pan goes up and out, a TH can be a little high and the fire will still go into the TH. The photo shows one of my rifles just after a range session, note where the gray fouling from the pan flash is, it is high.